Rum Made from a base of sugar cane and its by products, rum is a versatile and satisfying drink, currently gaining enormous popularity and resurgence with the fashionistas of the bar drink scene. The historical home of rum is considered to be the West Indies, Guyana, and other parts of South America. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad were the largest rum producers, closely followed by Cuba and Puerto Rico. Facunado Bacardi established a distillery in Santiago, Cuba in 1862. His brand is now the biggest selling international spirit brand (and not just rum!) in the world. Rum is a spirit distilled from sugar cane or molasses (the syrupy residue left over after sugar has been refined). As always in distillation, yeast and water are added to begin fermentation. The fermentation liquid (the wash) usually undergoes distillation several times in copper pot stills - the same as the ones used to make brandy or whisky. The resulting spirit is always clear. To produce golden or darker rums, the spirit is aged in oak barrels (often ex-bourbon barrels). These barrels are often charred on the inside to add a smoky depth to the finished spirit. As the Caribbean has a hot climate, the barrels mature very quickly and therefore only a short (rarely more than 8 years) maturation process is needed (typi- cally longer in cooler climates). Once fully mature the rums are blended with other rums of other ages until the producer achieves exactly the right flavour, colour and texture for their product. Any age statement on the bottle will always refer to the youngest rum in the blend. MOUNT GAY Eclipse (Barbados) 37.5% $10 Claiming to be the oldest rum company on the planet, this golden, delicate and light rum has a balanced flowery and creamy tang. FLOR DE CANA 7yr Old Grande Reserve (Nicaragua) 40% $ 11 The flagship of the range. Bold notes of dark chocolate and espresso coffee. A great Nicaraguan rum from Flor de Caña. This 7 year old is great as a mixing rum, and it makes a fantastic cocktail. It is aged in 180 litre white oak barrels, which are only used once before maturation - which gives the oak flavour more prominence HAVANA CLUB Anejo 3 (Cuba) 40% $10 The nose is crisp and fresh with notes of marzipan, citrus, allspice, ground ginger, a little lime and gentle oak. The palate is clean and rounded with notes of citrus, vanilla and oak, a little spice and lemon and a delicate nutty note. HAVANA CLUB Anejo 7 (Cuba) 40% $ 12 Havana Club 7yo is a full-flavoured, rich and sophisticated Cuban rum with a high degree of elegance and class. Wonderfully drinkable with vanilla and sweet spice. APPLETON ESTATE Signature blend (Jamaica) 43% $10 A true workhorse of the Rum industry. beautiful, rich and sweet - like the Lone Ranger’s saddle bags. One of the best value Rums going around. BARBANCOURT 15 Year Old (Haiti) 43% $16 The nose is full and fruited with mature spices. The palate has good body, complex and is very poised. A lot going on! Focused around direct arount interplay of oak, fruit and toasty spices. In finishes wrming and long. SAILOR JERRY Spiced (Virgin Islands) 40% $10 Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins was the father of old school tattooing and was a master craftsman whose artistry and integrity remain as timeless as the liquid that bears his signature. This rum is so heavily steeped in bar culture (particularly dives) it’s hard to avoid. A Caribbean Rum is blended with local natural spices, namely Vanilla and Lime. Rum CONT.... PYRAT XO Reserve (Anguilla) 40% $ 12 Aged and blended to perfection. Presented in individually numbered hand-crafted decanters and decorated with a Hoti (pronounced Ho-Tie) which represents the Zen patron saint and protecter of fortune tellers and bartenders KHUKRI XXX Rum (Nepal) 40% $ 12 KHUKRI Spiced Rum (Nepal) 40% $ 12 On a trek though Nepal one could find many things, Spiritual enlightenment, a greater appreciation for the fragile world we live in, or blisters, personally I’m not interested in any of that. But when Laura (one of the partners here at The Dispensary) informed me she was partaking in such a venture of course I asked for a drinkable souvenir to share with our punters back home. So with great care, and added weight to her pack our courageous hero meuled back two bottles of some fairly wild rum. Big notes of vanilla and spice makes this lot reminiscent of an artisanal cola. The spiced even more so! BARON SAMEDI (USA) 40% $10 In Haitian lore, The Baron lives between worlds. His charge is to escort the dead from the world of the living to the underworld, but he is notorious for his outrageous behavior and fondness for rum. When among the living he is often seen in his top hat, with his signature drink of rum in hand, laughing while partaking in whatever unruliness strikes his fancy. The rum itself is is a blend of pot distilled Jamaican and Caribbean rums infused with cinnamon, cocoa and clove. HABITATION ST. ETIENE 2002 XO “Smokehead” (Martinique) 44% $19 The ‘HSE’ Rum Company offers a range of rums finished in ex Cognac, Whisky and Sherry casks, adopting the same principles of maturation that many innovative Single Malt Scotch whiskies have employed for decades. And as great schools of expression often turn full circle, the 2002 HSE Single Malt Finish is an 8 year old Rhum Agricole beautifully finished with 2 years in an Ian McLeod Distillers Smokehead cask previously containing Ardbeg Malt Whisky. Superb Rum. RON ZACAPA “Centurion” (Guatemala) 40% $15 One of my go to sippers on a cold night in. Distilled from sugar cane honey and super smooth. The ‘23 years old’ age statement has suddenly been dropped and replaced with a somewhat more plausible claim – the rums used are aged between 6 and 23 years old and are blended together in a Solera. DIPLOMATICO “Mantuano” (Venezuela) 40% $ 11 A combination of both batch kettle and pot distillation of a rich molasses and honey base. Aged up to eight years on white oak casks that were previously used in Scotch whisky and bourbon maturation. Makes a stinging Daiquiri PLANTATION “Pineapple” (Barbados) 40% $ 12 A tribute to the character created by Charles Dickens in the Pickwick Papers, Reverend Stiggins, whose favorite drink was “pineapple rum.” The barks of Victoria pineapples are infused in Plantation 3 Stars rum, which is then further distilled. Separately, the pineapple fruit is infused in Plantation Original Dark rum. Both distillate and fruit infusion are finally blended together, creating a rich and delicious pineapple bouquet. “But why’s the rum gone?” -Captain Jack Sparrow Tequila & MEZCAL Both tequila and mezcal are Mexican drinks made from the famed native agave plant. The main difference between the two is appelation. Tequila can only be made from the pinas (hearts) of the blue agave plant in and around the town of Jalisco. Only spirit harvested in this town and its four surrounding regions can be classed as tequila. Mezcal is made from wild varieties of the same plant (agave) in the southern region of Oaxaca. The agave plant takes up to 12 years to reach the maturity needed to make tequila. These are big plants. The hearts, or pinas, often weigh up to 90 kilos. Tequila is made in a similar way to most spirits utilising copper stills, cutting with water and oak fermentation and ageing Tequila is classified by the amount of agave it contains as well as the length of its ageing process. Blanco or Silver tequila is usually unaged and delivered straight to the bottle after fermentation. Therefore it is often sharp, citrussy and with a dis- tinct agave flavour. Resposado refers to a tequila that had been aged in wood for up to a year. Anejo refers to a tequila that has spent between one to five years in oak. Tequila is generally served in three main ways, straight up in a shot glass, in a long mixed drink, generally with orange juice or Coca-Cola and as the main ingredient in cocktails - most noatbly in the Margarhita! CLASE AZUL Reposado 40% $19 Intriguing Tequila cooked in brick ovens for around 36 Hours & fermented in open top stainless steel vats with own selected native yeast. It is double distilled andf aged for 10 to 12 Months in American oak (Ex-Bourbon casks). Intense amber in colour with a nose of orange blossom, spearmint and charred wood, followed by vanilla, clove and toffee caramel. It is silky and rich in the mouth with a taste of sweet cooked agave, followed by tropical fruit cinnamon stick & vanilla-toffee caramel undertones, oak nuances on a very smooth finish. World Class Tequila. 1800 Anejo 38% $ 12 I’m pretty sure I just stock this for Mikie Van. Legend has it he has been drinking it from birth and occasionally bathes in it. It is amber in colour. It has been aged in a combination of American and French oak barrels - both charred nicely to bring through a smokey quality, missing in many other anejo’s. It is powerful and spicey, with clove and nutmeg being the driving forces, and hints of vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch quietly screaming in your eardrums. ESPLON Blanco 38% $10 You know that bottle you reach for when your mate busts into the bar you haven’t seen for a while and you know you’re about to kick your night up to 11 and whatever plans you thought you had for the next day vanish in a haze of agave laced laughter? Well for me this is it.